Mini wants its owners to communicate more than the old routine of waving at each other: it has released Mini Motoring, a social navigation application for Android and iPhone, to let drivers share their favorite driving routes with each other.

The application, which is compatible with Android and iPhone handsets, is based on the previously released BMW Ultimate Drive application. After creating an account, drivers can post stretches of road or more complicated routes using the app's internal Google Maps feature. Once a route is posted, other users can view the routes, follow them, and then rate them from one to five stars.

The Mini app goes a bit further up the scale of social navigation by adding another feature: social rewards. Customers who use the application get virtual points for using the application, but actual Mini owners can also get points for linking the application to their Mini Financial Services lease or loan accounts and doing things like paying their bills through the app or signing up for paperless/digital billing.

Those points are currently good for purchasing digital items like Mini smartphone wallpapers, but Mini says that, in the future, it allow users to apply virtual points towards physical promotional items.

The app also bridges the gap between social networking on one's phone and in real life: it has a special clubs feature that allows Mini owners clubs to post private routes that are only visible by other club members, and let club members put their membership status on their application profiles.

The gaming features from the Mini app, BMW says, are now also available for the BMW Ultimate Drive application. Both apps are free, and both are now available in the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace.